Justified 4.9: “I’m talking about who we are”

I cannot believe Arlo is dead. It was inevitable, but I thought for sure he’d be there right through to the end. Then again, his relationship with Raylan had gotten so bad, where else did they have to go? Now we’re going to have to deal with the fall out of Arlo’s death, and also Colton killing Gutterson’s junkie Army buddy. Season 4 has gone from “where is this all going?” to “OMG what is going to happen next?!”. I’m tempted to say it’s my favorite season since #2, but I still don’t get how the St. Cyr siblings fit into the overall arc, unless they existed solely to lure Ellen Mae away from Ava and Boyd. Which seems like an elaborate set up, if that is the case. We’ve still got five episodes, though, to unravel the rest of the Drew Thompson mystery. And to deal with Arlo’s death. And Gutterson’s situation with Colton.

The junkie managed to text one word to Gutterson before he died. Bagram. (Because “Bagram lung”, the reason Colton gave for being at the VA hospital. Will Gutterson remember? He’s not an idiot, so…yes.)

Hey it’s Nelson! I wonder if he had a good birthday. Maybe with ice cream cake? Raylan would totally be into ice cream cake.

Nelson delivers Hunter Mosley to Raylan for transport to the super-max prison. It seems like that would be against at least one policy, given that Hunter killed his dad.

Yep, Art is chewing out Nelson. And he just threw down some incredible lines. “Sit your ass down until I figure out how to like you again,” (I’m totally using that) and, “Articulate my extreme displeasure,” are the winners for best zingers.

And for the second episode in a row, Gutterson gets smacked down for being a smartass. He’s always been sarcastic and bitchy, but he’s running into straight-up annoying territory. I’m blaming it on Raylan. He is a terrible influence.

Hunter: Is this what it’s going to be like? You riding up there like you’re Harry Callahan and I’m supposed to be back here, sh*tting myself?
Raylan: Lord I hope not. I’m trapped in the car with you.

THIS DIALOGUE.

Gutterson offers to help and Raylan is like, “Nah, I got this,” but Gutterson is going to go to Harlan anyway. I should mention that Harlan is three hours away from Lexington. They make it seem like they just pop on down to Harlan like they’re going to the corner store, but it’s a SIX HOUR round trip.

Raylan takes Hunter to see Wynn Duffey. He suspects the Dixie Mafia had Hunter kill Arlo. Duffey and Raylan have an unexpectedly genuine moment when Duffey realizes Arlo is dead. Not so much because Duffey is sympathetic (I’m not sure he’s actually capable of that emotion), but because he really did not know anything about the hit on Arlo.

Boyd and Ava are house shopping on Clover Hill. They have a total Pretty Woman moment when the realtor implies they won’t be able to get a loan for the fancy house and Boyd flashes a briefcase full of cash.

So Hunter threw himself out of a moving car. And then tries to get hit by a truck. Why is everyone in Harlan such a drama queen?

Raylan maybe kicks him a little too hard.

And oh my God, it’s Cassie St. Cyr! She’s looking for Ellen Mae, who left word at the church that she needs to talk.

YOU GUYS, SO MUCH IS HAPPENING IN THIS EPISODE.

Let’s take a moment to appreciate the irony. Boyd is doing the investigative work to find Drew Thompson while Raylan, the actual investigator, is trying to beat it out of people.

Sheriff Shelby catches up to Raylan and Hunter.

Oh Jesus. Raylan sent Constable Bob to poke around Lee Paxton’s hunting cabin to search for Drew-clues. That is not going to end well.

Ruh-roh. Boyd gets on Colton because Cassie St. Cyr implied Ellen Mae is still alive (which she is), but Colton manages to talk his way around it. So now Boyd thinks Cassie just wants another pay off.

Gutterson is following Colton. So he’s onto that situation already.

Aw. Raylan finds out a childhood incident was less about Arlo being a dick and more about Arlo defending his wife’s honor against a loud-mouth (he shoved dog poo down the guy’s throat in retribution, by the way, because Arlo Givens was a stone-cold son of a bitch). And Hunter implies he has some kind of debt of honor to Drew Thompson, which is why he won’t give him up.

Johnny outs Colton as a liar and tells Boyd he didn’t kill Ellen Mae. And Boyd is losing his temper. Colton’s day is getting so sh*tty.

Boyd is so mad. He’s speaking very quietly.

Colton confronts Cassie and he is tweaked out of his goddamned mind. She tries to play him but he goes right to the strangling.

Gutterson! He point-blank asks Colton about killing his junkie buddy, but in a tone that says he knows Colton did it. But Boyd interrupts him and—because this is a bizarro world where Boyd is the one doing Raylan’s job—talks Tim out of killing Colton.

Constable Bob! Lee Paxton is a total asshole to him. And here’s where Patton Oswalt is worth every penny—the crushed look on his face as Paxton disrespects him is priceless.

Of course Constable Bob escalates it into a gun fight. And he has a f*cking MACHINE GUN in his go-bag. That is a season-long pay off, guys.

Meanwhile, back at the car. Sheriff Shelby is Drew Thompson. Confirmed.

He lets Hunter go. Raylan is going to be in SO MUCH SH*T.

Constable Bob unravels the mystery for Raylan—when Hunter killed Henry Crowder (discussed in season 1), Sheriff Shelby took the fall for Hunter, which is why Hunter is so indebted. Also, Hunter didn’t escape. He’s just lounging in the back of Raylan’s car. God, these Harlan sheriffs. They have titanium balls.

Boyd is interrogating Colton, who is sticking to his “Ellen Mae is dead” story. He mentions his gun is his service weapon, smuggled back from Iraq (which probably will play into Gutterson’s situation—too deliberate a detail to be random). He also drops the bit about Sheriff Shelby knowing Colton was looking for Ellen Mae.

Oh Gutterson. Do not fall for Cassie St. Cyr’s act.

Boyd sends Ava away and pays Sheriff Shelby a visit, but walks into a Marshals’ set up. His reaction? “Drew godd*mn Thompson.”

Drew Thompson has escaped (again). Raylan and Gutterson set off to find him, cool-walking into the night. Naturally.